To Catch a Legend
by superpikachuu
Summary: Gold, poor country boy, starts a journey, and meets a childhood friend. But secrets are rampant in this world, secrets that could destroy nations and unleash ancient legends. And this friend hides a secret, one that could change everything.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

I sat there shivering in the chilly room. My arms pale, my heartbeat an infinitely slow pace. I slowly sat up in his bed, looking around myself once, then twice to make sure that everything was normal. _Calm down Gold. _I talked to myself like how I did when I was younger. _This is your room. _ I recalled the nightmare so vividly, however, that it seemed like reality. The Haunter's laughing in my ears as they chased me, cackling madly through the streets. I shivered again at the terrifying thought.

Outside, suddenly, the Dodrio crowed. _Damn. Time to get up._ Shaking my head, I climbed out of my warm bed and onto the cold, barren ground, dashing for my clothing. I put on my shirt and pants, buckled my worn-out leather belt, and then put on my favorite yellow hat, the only thing I had left of my brother. I took a quick glance into the mirror. I saw a slightly scruffily dressed young guy, with jet-black hair and a cocky grin. _Perfect. _Downstairs, I heard my mom creating a masterpiece out of fresh Dodrio eggs. _Maybe this won't be such a bad day after all._

As soon as I walked down the stairs, Mom, a plump middle-aged woman with light brown curls, approached me and gave me a big hug.

"Hi son! Today, Professor Elm called by. He wanted you to go over and run an errand for him." I nodded as I furiously stuffed the eggs down my throat, wasting no time eating. I turned to leave, but stopped as my mother called out to me again. "Oh right. Your PokeGear just arrived back from the store. You should take it with you."

I smiled. I had been waiting for this PokeGear for months, as I had won it in my schools annual lottery. Our small family was too poor to afford one, and I was glad I didn't have to wear out Mom's pockets anymore. I turned to leave, but was stopped by a clicking sound. I turned around and laughed, seeing my mom beckon me forward with her finger. I sighed resignedly, and gave myself over to her embrace.

"Mom!" I pleaded jokingly. "I'm already seventeen years old. I can take care of myself."

She just smiled and pushed me off towards the doorway.

As I walked out of my small wooden house, I stepped onto the crisp green grass outside my home. That was the benefit of living in this tiny town. Despite the lack of anything really interesting happening in the town, it was cheap and had plenty of living space for the few residents. The sun beat down on my back, warming me as I ran towards Professor Elm's lab.

I swung the door open without knocking and hopped in. Professor Elm was a revered professional in his field, but to me, he had always been a friend. I looked for him around the quiet lab and found his iconic brown tuff of hair sticking out from behind a computer.

"Elm!" He looked up and around until he saw me. His face lit up and beckoned me forward towards him.

"Gold. How nice to see you. How has April been?" I smiled. "She's been fine. She told me this morning you had something for me to do?"

He nodded. "Yes. I have something extremely important." We walked through the halls into a small white door on the side that I had never noticed before. He pressed his palm on it, and green rays of light shot from his fingertips to the sides of the door, which beeped and opened.

The room itself lit up as we walked in, and I saw why it was kept hidden so well. Inside the room were tons and tons of pokeballs. There were the standard red ones, issued to new trainers, as well as Great balls, a stronger level, and many other pokeballs I had never seen before. Elm walked to a corner of the room, where a small glass case stood. He tapped the red button on the front, and the glass case slid open, revealing a small, red tablet. He grabbed it and handed it to me.

"For my new research, I need to research an unusual occurrence." He began. "Recently, I have received calls that fully evolved Pokemon are evolving again, becoming extremely powerful and rare. I need to do research on this, and that's where you come in. Use this Pokedex to record every Pokemon that you see, and eventually you'll probably find one of these rare Pokemon evolutions."

He smiled. "I also called you here for a different reason. As we both know, you were not able to afford to start a Pokemon journey due to financial troubles. Well, I thought that maybe you would want to start one now?" His eyes twinkled as I roared with joy. Since I was small, I had always really wanted to become a trainer, but it cost too much to apply for a license, almost as much as my mom's annual salary.

He held out from who-knows-where three red pokeballs. "I would like you to choose your starter, if you're going to accept this journey."

"Do you think I would say no?"

I poked at the Pokeballs as I debated which one to take. Having helped Elm so much, I knew what starters there were. The pokeball that had a small teardrop on top of it was Totodile, a slightly overwhelming crocodile Pokemon. Most Totodiles that had been given to starters were quite aggressive and playful, and many a novice had left the lab screaming with a Totodile bite on their arm. _Nah. Too aggressive. _

I next recalled my information about Chikorita. Chik was a cute and adorably friendly dinosaur pokemon with a ring of peas around it's neck and a leaf on its head. It's final evolution, Meganium, was extremely useful and could singlehandedly either wipe out an army with it's deadly poisons or heal one with it's soothing smells. _Maybe, but seems a bit passive. _

Finally, I looked at the small, warm pulsating pokeball. Inside it held the firey squirrel, Cyndaquil. It had a small flame on the back of it's back, but the flame was harmless if it liked you. It was usually a bit reclusive, but once you got it to like you, it loved you. I smiled as I made my choice.

"Come on out, Cynd!" I whirled the pokeball in the air like the trainers did in the videos, and immediately caused a crashing lamp to fall to the ground.

Professor Elm tried to look stern, but he was stifling a laugh. "Young man, we do not use our pokemon indoors. Go outside!"

I went outside and released my new pokemon. Cyndaquil popped out in front of me, and I marveled at new Pokeball technology. A pokeball turned the registered Pokemon into pure energy and brought it to an "alternate dimension" where all the other Pokémon that trainer owned were. It meant that the Pokémon didn't have to always stay with the trainer, but could still be called on on a moments notice.

As Cyndaquil came out, he squinted into the bright sun. I looked at it and saw it was obviously a baby, due to the tiny pores that were on the side of it. It took a shaky step, tripped on a pebble, and fell.

I rushed forward to the crying Cyndaquil and picked it up, cradling it in my arms. "It's fine. You're safe here."

The Cyndaquil looked up at me with large, tearful eyes, and I laughed. "Come on buddy, let's get you patched up."


	2. Chapter 2

2 hours later, I was ready. I had completely brushed Cyndaquil's fur, gave him a bath and trained him in some basic commands. At this level, he could only use basic attacks such as Tackle and Tail Whip, but later on he would be able to breathe out his fire.

And so we started walking. I knew from my map on my new PokeGear that the nearest town, Reardon Town, was just a few miles away. Cyndaquil sat on top of my backpack, squealing at every random stranger we passed. A few of them stopped to say hello, with one especially nice nurse offering them a Potion, a miracle of modern medicine.

As we walked through the path, a sudden stirring on the side made me look. A small pair of furry brown ears poked out of the bushy grass on the side of the road, and I pointed my Pokedex towards it.

_Sentret, the Furry Pokemon. _The machine beeped out in a monotone, slightly male voice. _Sentret usually like to travel in groups through widely populated areas, taking food from the ground that travelers have dropped. Despite their friendly appearance, they are actually very shy. _I smiled as I pointed Cyndaquil at the bush. "Let's go! Use Tackle now!"

Cyndaquil jumped into the bush and smacked into the small Sentret, who I saw was also very young. The two grappled on the ground for a few minutes, with Sentret smacking Cyndaquil's back with its furry tail. It looked as though neither were going to get anywhere, as Cyndaquil was just a small baby and Sentret literally had no hard bone on its whole body.

I chucked my first Pokeball at him, who flew into a red light and vanished into my Pokeball. I then threw my Pokeball out again, and Sentret came out.

It was another testament to the modern science that Sentret had no a completely different mindset. It now felt a more emotional bond towards its trainer and capturer. It jumped up and laughed as it batted Cyndaquil with it's long tail. "Hi Cyndy, this is your new friend. Her name is..." _Blossom. My name is blossom. _"Who said that?" I asked out loud, but no one answered. I looked down at Sentret stupidly, as if she might have talked to me, but she just stared weirdly at me. "Her name is Blossom." Sentret smiled and jumped onto my shoulder as well, and we continued on our journey, one member more and a 20 pound pillow on my shoulder.

We arrived at Reardon at around 7 o-clock, and went to the nearest Pokémon Center. The familiar red-top of the building was lit up at night, and the automatic doors slid open as soon as we got close. Behind the desk was a pretty young lady with hot-pink curls in her hair.

She smiled at me. "Hi! Welcome to the Pokémon Center. Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?"

I grinned at her. "Hey cutie. I'd like for these two to be checked up on, if you could?" She blushed and looked away. "Sure thing. I'll be back in an hour."

As she came back, I looked up from the book I was reading. She was holding Sentret in her arms while Cyndaquil bounced behind him. I laughed as they both dashed into my arms. "Thank you. Do you work here all the time?"

She smiled. "Yes. I've been working here since I've turned 18."

I looked straight into her eyes. "Do you want to go out to that nice restaurant next door?"

I opened the fancy glass door for her. "Ladies first."

She smiled at me, having swapped her nurse's outfit out for a strapless black dress. Her hair was untied, letting it hang loose and flow behind her head.

As we walked into the restaurant, an elderly waiter hurried over. "Good evening, sir and madam. May I seat you?"

We followed the waiter to a small table with two seats covered by a lacy white tablecloth. Outside the window, the famous Reardon lake shone brilliantly underneath the moon.

"Gold, this is great." I flashed a smile at Joy. "I've never been on a real date before."

I laughed. "You should get out more then." The waiter came over and took our orders.

We continued talking, and I found out a lot more about Joy. Her mother and grandmother were both nurses, and she and all 23 of her cousins (I know that's a lot) were all nurses as well. She had been training for it since she was little, and it was basically all of the world she had seen.

Just then the waiter arrived with our courses. I had ordered a juicy Tauros steak, straight from his thigh. Beside it lay a small array of fried Seedot, spicing up the meal. Joy, being like all the other women in the world, ordered a salad made out of Hoppip leaves and Tropius fruits. I wonder how they survive on that food.

We ate with some more small talk, but then the bill came. Joy reached into her pocket, but I waved it off. "I'll pay." She smiled. "You're such a gentleman."

I reached into my pocket for a wallet that I had snatched from some rich looking guy walking on the street. "Here." I handed a wad of bills to the wide-eyed waiter. "Keep the change."

As we exited the restaurant, I saw a poor guy, about 14, standing outside the restaurant. I smiled and took out the appropriated wallet, giving it to him. The guy stared at it for a second like he didn't know what it was, before he beamed at me and thanked me.

Joy looked at him curiously. "What did you do that for?"

I smiled inwardly. "There are people who need that more than me."

I escorted Joy to her house, then said goodbye and left for the little alley I saw earlier where I could sleep. I curled up in a small ball with Blossom and Cyndy and quickly fell asleep, the boy from the alley's smile still in my brain.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up with a familiar arching feeling in my back. The fresh cold air hit me in the face, along with a nice whiff of the garbage truck parked in front of my alley. I grabbed my bag and sprinted, waking up a disgruntled Blossom, who had decided to sleep outside. We got to a small park nearby, where I gathered myself. I threw out my Pokéball, from which a well-rested Cynd popped out.

"Cynd Cynd !" It squealed happily, and looked next to it at its tired and stiff trainer and Blossom.

It snuggled over and turned on it's small, but warm flame, quickly dispelling the chilly air.

"Aww, thanks Cyndaquil. You're the best!" I laughed, but quickly stopped as I heard a crashing noise in the bushes next to me.

"Who's there?"

Suddenly, dramatic music started playing and a pair of tall people jumped out of the bush. The bright light behind them hid their faces and made them silhouettes.

"Prepare for trouble" A fancy posh woman's voice sounded.

A fabulously femininely French dude continued. "And make it double."

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and… This doesn't sound great anymore." The woman started whining, and the light shut down.

I dared to interrupt. "Are you guys like a new rock band or something?"

Out of a small stand in the side a Meowth popped out. "No! Haven't you heard of us? We're Team Rocket!"

I stood there blinking. "Umm… no?"

Jessie stepped out slowly. "Drop it guys, we're getting too old for this now. Now give me all your Pokémon!"

I growled in anger. Who did these guys think they were? I was about to send Sentret out when Jessie started laughing hysterically.

"Hah we got you, didn't we James? We used to do criminal stuff like that, but no more. Now we're just part of a charity program." She grinned, a pretty scary sight considering her face had an ocean of mascara. "Would you like a flier?"

I nodded, anything to get them out of here. I looked at the flier.

"Chansey's Happy Egg Elderly Care? Is that seriously your name?"

James popped out again. "Yep! I came up with it myself. Isn't it great?"

After a long "chat" with the weird Happy Egg people, I was glad to leave. I grabbed my bag and put Blossom and Cynd onto my shoulder, and started walking. Apparently this city had a gym.

Eventually, by following the small wooden signs on the sides of the road, we reached a massive building. It looked sort of like a cave on the outside, and upon closer inspection, I noticed it was a cave with a giant set of doors installed. I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

Immediately the doors swung open, and I walked in. And nearly fainted.

Below me a roaring waterfall streamed into a canyon inside of the gym. The canyon was at least 500 feet down. Along the way, there were small slippery wooden bridges positioned across the chasm, stretching into ominously dark tunnels.

I gulped. A man standing near me smiled. "This your first gym badge?" I nodded feebly.

He leaned towards me. "Lemme give ya some hints. This gym leader, Anthony, is like a big buff guy right? But in reality, he's actually real soft-hear… Who am I kidding? Anyways, he uses Rock-Type Pokémon like Geodude and Roggenrola. Who was your starter?"

"Cyndaquil, but I also have a Sentret.." The man let out a roar of laughter.

"Did you just graduate from trainer school or something? You realize neither of those will stand a chance against him right?" He laughed again, but this time more friendly. "You should hit Serena Garden, right inside this city. There should be plenty of Grass-types over there."

I thanked him, then exited the Gym, whose roaring waterfall was already pounding my ears.

As I walked along the street, I looked along the side of the road. Vendors were everywhere selling anything you could think of: Homemade Valliluxes, little Pikachu dolls, and for the really brave, Magikarp sushi. Finally, I arrived at a beautiful garden. _Wow. It really is a serene garden. _

I let Cynd and Blossom go out to play as I went to search for a grass type. For some reason, everytime I spotted one, it ran away as fast as it could. I heard a small voice in the back of my head.

_Hey! Over here! _I frowned. _Who are you? _ The voice giggled. _Wow! You can hear me. You're the first human to do that. Well, look down, geez. You're going to smush my leaves._

I looked down to see what seemed like a small pink peach staring at me haughtily. _I expect you to pick me up right now and take me with you. _I smiled. Perfect, a Cherubi. I pointed my Pokedex at it. _Cherubi, the Juicy Peach Pokémon. It takes great care to protect its small peach on the side, which gives it nutrients. It especially loves sunlight and has been known to create its own sun when the sun isn't out._

I carried Cherubi back to the park, where I saw a terrible sight. Blossom and another Bidoof were growling at each other, with Cynd and another unknown Pokémon trying to break up the incoming fight. I pointed my Pokedex at the blue Pokémon. _Spheal, the Blubber Ball Pokémon. It likes to bounce around and is naturally curious, often playing with swimmers who venture close to its cave. When aggravated, however, its ice powers are cold enough to freeze fire. _I stared at the small Spheal, who had frozen both Blossom and the Bidoof's legs to the ground. _I need something like that._

The trainer of the Bidoof hurried over and gathered up the still squealing Bidoof and hurried away, leaving me to deal with a disgruntled Sentret.

After a long scolding session, I decided to bring them to go taste some of Reardon's famous ice cream. As I slurped my Vanillite as my Pokémon happily each held an Oran Berry slushie, a small coughing noise behind me brought my attention. I turned around and almost dropped my Vanillite.

"Why are you here, Gold?"

Vanessa, my long-time childhood friend, was standing before me. Vanessa was wearing the standard female trainer outfit, complete with a set of 3 shiny Pokeballs clipped to her leather belt. She grinned.

"I had no idea I would see you here. How many Pokémon do you have?"

I held out my three small Pokeballs. I was still in shock by the fact that Vanessa was in front of me. She had moved away two years ago to the Almian region, where her brother was in training to become a Pokémon Ranger.

She smiled. "Let's battle then. This can be your first one."

We stood on a grassy field as she sent out her first Pokémon. She flung a special hotpink Pokéball and out popped a preppy, pretentious penguin.

I pointed my Pokedex at the small bird. _Piplup, the Royal Penguin Pokémon. Piplup is very proud and will never ask for help from anyone. Its layer of feathers is warm enough to keep it warm inside the freezing cold of its habitat._

I expanded my Pokéball and sent out my newly caught Cherubi. It sprang out of it's Pokéball and yawned happily into the morning sun.

"Go, Pippy, use Bubble!" Piplup nodded and sent out a stream of small bubbles towards my Cherubi.

Cherubi squealed as the small bubbles hit its fragile peach body. "Cherubi, Absorb!"

Cherubi let brilliant green orbs fly from its body and hit a confused Piplup, who recoiled from the super effective attack. The orbs flew back and healed Cherubi back to full health, removing the scratches the bubble had caused.

Cherubi stood straight, but Piplup had fallen onto the ground.

Vanessa took her Pokéball and recaptured Piplup. "You're still good," she smirked, "but not nearly as good as me." 

That sparked my competitive nature that we had since we were little. "Oh yeah? I won't even switch out. I'll go 3/0."

She smiled, and threw out another Pokéball. Inside the ball was a small worm. I laughed. "That's what your bringing out against me?" I pointed the Pokedex at it. _Wurmple, the Silk Worm Pokémon. Wurmple have a small gland in their head that decides if they evolve into the toxic Cascoon or the tank Silcoon. Wurmple have small silk glands inside their mouth that squirt out when attacked. _

"Cherubi, smash that weakling with Tackle." Cherubi leapt forward, about to smash Wurmple into the ground, but suddenly Wurmple began to emit a bright light. It morphed into a purple ball with spikes on it, which stabbed the small peach. She began to shake violently and I recalled her. The purple ball morphed back.

Vanessa grinned. "My Wurmple is a special one. It can turn into both of its evolutions at will. Or maybe, that has to do with finding it near a nuclear power plant."

I readied Cynd. Cynd shot forward and tried to shoot fire at the Wurmple, but he just morphed into a white ball and sucked up the weak flames.

_Damn. Why is it so hard to kill a bug? _I thought. Then I had an idea.

"Cynd, jump onto the worm while spinning!" He jumped in the air. Wurmple changed into the purple ball, as expected, but the flames from Cynd's back seared the cocoon and it fell to the ground, crispy.

Vanessa dashed to her fallen Wurmple, but it was already waking up. She smiled with tears in her eyes, and recalled it.

"I'll have to say, that's pretty impressive. But there is no way I'm going to lose this one."

She threw out one final Pokémon, and out came… another Piplup?

I frowned and recalled Cyndaquil, sending out Blossom. She bounced on her furry tail and charged at the Piplup.

"Zorua, use Night Daze!" And just like that, the Piplup melted into shadows.

The Piplup came up from behind and shot a bolt of dark energy at Sentret, which instantly crumpled into a fainted bag of fluff.

I recalled him and sent out Cynd. My Pokedex still said the Piplup was a normal Piplup, but I wasn't sure that regular baby penguins could melt into shadows.

Cyndaquil fired a weak flame at the "Piplup." The Piplup, surprisingly took a fair amount of damage. And. Then. It. Changed.

It turned into a small little black fox, with the cockiest grin on its face. Like seriously, that thing could give me some competition.

Vanessa laughed. "I see you've discovered Zorua's true form."

_Zorua, the Illusion Pokémon. Zorua are very defensive of their territory and will often make themselves look like different things to scare opponents. Notable examples of Zorua causing havoc are the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot._

Zorua morphed back into shadows and disappeared. Cynd stood no chance, as Zorua appeared behind him and smashed him with another bolt of dark energy.

Vanessa walked forward and shook my hand. "I'm sorry Gold, but there is no way you are beating my Zorua. Nice try, though. Do you wanna travel with me for a bit? I'm headed towards Jacaloste, a small town nearby to visit their famous art carnival." I smiled and accepted, and we headed together onto the road, two friends reunited.


	4. Chapter 4

After hours of walking, we finally arrived at Jalacoste. The town was a more rural community than both my hometown and Reardon. Call me a history geek, but I loved the place because of its antiquity. It had been constructed thousands of years ago, during the First War. That was when the forces of humans and their Pokémon faced off against the ghosts. The humans eventually won, but not without a great cost. Almost 90 percent of all the life on Earth had died, and this town was erected as a monument to the brave soldiers.

The street fair was well under way, with children dashing up and down the streets filling it with laughter. Ahead of me. Vanessa had gone off to do some "quick shopping", but I was pretty sure she wouldn't come out of the store for another few hours. So, I decided to go exploring in the fair, and that's when it started.

I walked down the street, when I saw a government rally in front of me. Those rallies were often held by our government, led by our great leader, Cynthia. She had been reelected to office 3 times already, and many were claiming her as our savior. Anyways, this rally was instigated by a bulky man in a tight red suit.

"Stop warming! The ice is melting!" He led a chant, which spread across the plaza. "Join Magma, save the Earth!"

The people huddling around the plaza started chatting with each other, each one more convinced then the next. I myself wasn't buying it. Why were these guys doing this in a public plaza?

Nearby me, I saw a pair of people dressed up in red hoodies walk to both sides of an elderly man. The man instantly started walking towards a nearby alley with the two people around him. I looked closer, because something definitely wasn't right. Then I noticed. My OCD was usually a bad thing, but now it helped me see a detail others would have missed. The man's legs were not moving with the standard step. Instead, his thigh walked out a tiny bit every step, as if he was a… puppet?

The men stopped walking, and I quickly ducked behind the wall so that they wouldn't see me. I heard a gruff voice.

"Mr. Vixer, who do you work for?" A gruff voice sounded.

A brief period of silence followed, and then a grunt and a crunching sound.

"Tell us, and we'll let you go." The elderly man remained silent.

I waited a few minutes, but nothing else happened, so I dared to take a look.

The elderly man, or what remained of him, was slumped over on the ground. On his neck was a large red slit, and his face was heavily bruised. I feebly checked for breathing, but nope. The men had done their job well.

I didn't know what to do. Who were those men? I briefly considered calling the police, but decided against it. First, I'm just going to look around.

I flipped through the man's pockets. Inside were a small pocketbook, a wallet and a business card. According to the card, his name was Archie. The wallet contained money and the book was blank. That was really helpful. I looked at the poor fellow again. What exactly moved him here?

I went back to the plaza, determined to see what was happening. I saw the same two grunts approaching a woman wearing lots of makeup and a fancy dress. I saw the same thing happen, the muscles going slack and the woman walking out with them. And then I noticed the blue glow surrounding her.

_Psychics. _The voice inside my head spoke up. _There is a strong psychic nearby. _I frowned. _Who the hell are you?_

The voice dissented. _Not now. I'll explain everything later. Right now, focus on taking out that psychic. _My eyes directed themselves toward a small alley, where I saw a giant jelly bear. _Reuniclus, the Psychic Bubble Pokémon. It is formed when many Solosis fuse together. It's psychic abilities are strong enough to control minds. _

I snuck behind the Reuniclus, but it's attention was focused all on the woman. Ha. What a psychic. "Go, team!" Blossom and Cyndy burst out of their balls, while Cherry just hopped off my shoulder. That got the Reuniclus' attention, and it turned around and snared all three of my Pokémon. Without even trying. What the hell?

My Pokémon tried to struggle against the psychic, but none of them could move. I tried to jump towards the Reuniclus, but it just looked at me and I couldn't move either. Beside me, I saw the woman jump-kick the criminals to the ground. At least she was doing well.

"Go, Zorua!" An extremely familiar female voice sounded. The Reuniclus suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ground, fainted. A Reuniclus who had just done the equivalent of a ninja jump onto the othe Reuniclus morphed into a Zorua. Vanessa's Zorua. And then she came out from behind the wall. In front of me stood the woman I had saved. Vanessa.

"What the hell are you doing? Why were you being kidnapped? What the.." She shut me up with a stare.

"I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier, but I didn't want to put you in danger. You see, I'm not only a trainer. I'm a Top Ranger in Almia." Her face hardened. "I came here on reports that the government here in Johto was going criminal. Sure, they talk about solving for climate change all the time, but somehow, every dissenting voice mysteriously disappears." 

I told her about Archie and what had happened to him.

"Damn. This is worse than I thought." She cursed. "Psychics were banned decades ago in the Silverian contract, which stopped a potential war. If the government is resorting to those… As for Archie, he's part of a criminal organization. Team Aqua, you've heard of them?" I shook my head.

"In the Hoenn region, there are two teams: Aqua and Magma. This rally seems to be orchestrated by Magma, which means they have infiltrated the government. Anyways, Aqua is an extremely potent force. They want warming to happen and for the world to be taken over by water." She smiled , a rare smile.

"The criminal organizations are obviously in conflict, which is both good and bad. They are trying to awaken ancient legends, though, ancient legends that should not be awoken. Let me show you why this town." She took me down alley after alley, until we came to a small temple. We took off our shoes and walked in, bowing to the priest who stood by the door. Inside, there was a small shrine with a picture on it. _This is my home. _The voice in my head spoke up again. I think I'll name it Gray, because I really want to stop referring to it as the voice in my head. _Gray, what? _The voice giggled. _Look at that picture. That's me!_ I looked at the picture.

Inside the picture, a tiny blue pixie was smiling underneath the ocean, swimming next to a giant blue whale. _I'm guessing you're not the giant blue whale? _Gray giggled again. _Nope. And stop calling me Gray, it's a dumb name. My name is Manaphy!_ I smiled.

"Ahem." Vanessa looked at me weirdly. "Are you okay? You just stood there weirdly for like 10 minutes." I assured her I was fine. "Let's go grab dinner, okay? I need to go back to Reardon tomorrow for my gym challenge."

Vanessa smiled. "Sorry, can't. I gotta keep on going. Something big is happening, and it's my duty to prevent it. I guess I'll see you again someday. You have my number right?"

"Right. So, um, I'll see you some other day?"

She winked at me. "Bye, Gold."

I stared at her as she walked away. I had missed another opportunity to stay with her. For, she didn't know, but I still remembered. I was deeply in love with Vanessa.


	5. Chapter 5

"Challenger Gold's Cherubi is the winner, and Geodude is unable to battle." The announcer's voice spread across the stadium.

Anthony, flexing his chest muscles, roared. "COME ON KID. TIME FOR THE REAL POWER." He threw out a final Pokémon.

"Regirock!" A giant rock golem tumbled out of the Pokéball and stared down at my quivering Cherry.

Pokedex aimed, I clicked the button. _Regirock, the Rock Golem. Created by humans thousands of years ago, it is legendary and only 2 are in existence. It's outer shell is so hard that even a bomb exploding right next to it will barely scratch it._

I stared. All around me, the audience started going crazy, in different amounts of chaos. Even the announcer looked flabbergasted.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Anthony has sent out a… Regirock." He whispered softer. "Anthony, are you sure this is appropriate for a first gym battle?"

Anthony didn't reply, and then I saw why. His eyes were glowing brilliant white. "DESTROY THEM ALL!"

And the bomb hit the floor.

Regirock smashed forward, and a parade of sharp rocks hurled themselves at Cherubi. She managed to dodge most, but one became painfully stuck in her body.

"RUBBIIIIIII" It squealed. I dashed forward and tried to scoop it up, but the smashing impact of all the rocks really made it hard. One of them smashed into my leg, and I almost blacked out from pain. _No. You have to rescue her. She fought for you, you should fight for her. _

I kept on crawling forward, not heeding the spikes and focusing on Cherry, barely a baby, getting her life in danger. Because of me. I reached forward and touched her a bit on the cheek.

_It's okay. I'm here for you_. I tried to convey to her, and her eyes were understanding. _Okay._

And then the Regirock spotted us, and started charging. Yellow beams came out of it's mouth, ready to decimate. The pure force of him charging the beam almost threw Gold back. Cherubi sat there, eyes full of fear, as the beam charged, but she was pinned steadily to the ground. And then it hit.

"Capture on!" I heard a voice say, but I was already blacking out, brain shutting into a dark loss of consciousness.

_Are you awake?_

I looked up. Standing above me was a Nurse Joy. I smiled at her, remembering our date. Why was I here in the hospital anyways?

And then it came back. The nightmare of the gym. Anthony blowing up. The Ranger.

"Wait, where's Cherubi?" I suddenly thought of her. "Where is she?"

Nurse Joy and the other man next to her looked at each other, but neither said anthing.

"She… She can't be gone. She's probably just resting in my Pokéball right?" I was basically pleading with them to smile and say yes.

But still, they remained silent. Finally, the man spoke up. "Gold, I'm going to just tell you now. Cherubi didn't survive."

_What? What the hell. _There is no way Cherry's dead. I kept on expecting her slightly haughty body to jump onto my bed and start laughing at me. She was only a baby. What. She can't be dead. She can't. I won't let it.

The man picked up his phone. "Yes? Okay.. WAIT WHAT THE FU-" He stopped himself from cursing, but it still came out.

The man stared at me, afraid to get closer. "Your Cherubi just woke up."

I smiled. "So, you just read her vitals wrong. What's so swearable about that?"

He frowned, and backed up even more from me. "You don't understand. She was vaporized to ash. She was in an urn."

Did my prayer actually come true? I quickly thanked every single legendary I could think of, and sat up, getting off my bed and walking over to the chair.

Nurse Joy and the man both stared at me like I was a monster.

"What?"

Nurse Joy swallowed. "You… your leg was shattered yesterday."

I looked at it. It looks perfectly fine.

The man stared at me with eyes open. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Kellyn. I'm the top Ranger in Almia. And also, I'm Vanessa's brother."

I burst out laughing. "Kellyn, that you?" I looked at the brown-haired boy, and I remembered him from our childhood. He was 5 years older than me, and I remember when me and Vanessa were out climbing trees, laughing and teasing at Kellyn, who was inside doing homework.

He smiled. "Anyways, can I do a quick scan on you? It'll be quick and painless."

Normally, I would never say yes to someone scanning me, but this was Kellyn, my best friend's brother. He was practically my father, since my father had died before I was born.

I nodded, and he grabbed his stylus.

"Capture on!" He waved his stylus, and a blue light came out of it, which he aimed into a nearby bush.

"Boo!" A small voice sounded from the bush. Kellyn smiled. "I'm so high level I can catch most Pokémon just by pointing my stylus at them."

A tiny, adorable pumpkin popped out of the bush. _Pumpkaboo, the Ghost Pumpkin. It is often referred to as the "Plumpkin" due to its fat, cute body. It is the friendliest ghost, and has never been known to hurt things._

"Pumpkaboo, use Hypnosis." Pumpkaboo looked at me, and started emitting a weird sound. I felt my eyes close, and I soon fell asleep.

I woke up a few minutes later, I think. Kellyn was nearby, talking to Nurse Joy. "I'm not sure. His body was pretty normal, except for a small hole in his right arm. I'm guessing some psychic power?"

Joy nodded. "Such as Sabrina. Sabrina is practically a psychic-type. Though I'm not sure even she can bring things back from death…"

I stood up. "Kellyn, am I psychic?" He jumped back startled.

"I'm pretty sure you have developed some mutant psychic gene. It's pretty strong."

"How strong?"

He sighed. "Let's just say, Sabrina, the strongest psychic in the last 1000 years, can't even bring things back from death."

That night, I tried something I had never done before. In the hospital, I tried to contact Manaphy.

_I'm here. What? _I told her about what had happened, and asked her what exactly was going on.

_I have no clue why my thoughts and yours are bonded, but they are. I don't think you're human. Not completely, at least, though my magic senses are not very strong right now. Why don't you come visit me? "Where are you?" _

_I am underwater, underneath Shoan Volcano in Johto. It is of utmost importance that you come as soon as you can. There is something bad stirring in the world._

I shut off my weird mental connection and went to sleep. I could probably go visit Cherry tomorrow…

Breaking news! Reardon gym leader Anthony is an Aqua mole! Arrested and jailed, kills 7 in giant rampage.

My TV blared open with noise and I groaned and sat up. I had a terrible night, not knowing what weirdness had gone over my body. It was definitely not puberty again. Wait, Cherry!

I dashed over to the waiting room, where there in a small cot, Cherry was chatting with Cynd and Blossom.

"HI guys! Cherry, are you alright?"

Cherry looked at me really confusedly. _I'm fine. Why are you asking? _

I grinned. "Nothing. Now, who wants ice cream?"

**A:N Thank you to my two followers and favoriter for ding this :D It really means a lot. **


	6. Chapter 6

Shoan Volcano in Johto was a huge landmark. It was the oldest volcano in Johto, and was rumored to once have been the nest of Moltres, a legendary phoenix. I stood at the bottom of it, accompanied by Kellyn, who had accompanied me here.

"Okay, here's the plan." He held out a map. On it was marked a very complicated series of symbols. "We need to go into the volcano to access the underground ruins. Starting from the top of the volcano, we have to go down through a chute of rock surrounded by lava. That lets us go into the volcano, through the explored part. We then have to access the unexplored area of the volcano by breaking through a layer of rock, which according to my map, would bring us to the west entrance of the Sea Maze."

I nodded. I didn't tell Kellyn specifically what I needed to do underwater, but he still came. And so, we started up the mountain.

With 20 pounds of luggage on my back, my Pokémon agreed to not ride on me. So, we started climbing the mountain.

"So, Kellyn, have you ever been in this volcano?" I broke the monotonous silence.

He shook his head. "I haven't really been inside this one, though I've heard of it. Anyways, you need to know some mountain safety. When there is a rock slide or a rock falling down, duck and hide beneath a stable rock structure. It will provide cover, and even if the rock does hit the structure and it falls down, it won't crush you." I nodded.

We continued for a few more hours, and I felt my leg muscles get weaker and weaker. Finally, I begged Kellyn for a break.

"Already?" He smirked. "We're not even halfway there."

I put my bag down and sat down, refusing to go forward for a while. Kellyn mock-grumbled, and sat down with me.

We started chatting and catching up with each other, as we hadn't really talked for years. He told me about how a Darkrai had almost taken over Almia a few years ago, and how he had stopped it.

"Sounds like a Ranger is a lot more exciting than a trainer."

"It sure is."

We sat there in silence for a while, until Kellyn stood up. "Let's keep on going."

As we approached the rim of the chute, I felt a sudden blast of hot air surround my body.

I jumped back and looked down into the steaming lake of lava, in which a small rock chute stood.

"Are you sure this is safe?" I looked at Kellyn, who was already strapping on a rope.

He grinned. "Safety is for babies." He jumped off of the rock cliff and landed perfectly on the rim of the rock chamber. "Your turn," he yelled.

I looked at the shaking rope, took a deep breath, and jumped.

It felt like I was dying. The heat embraced me, but the sheer speed of the air around me blew away the flames. I saw the rock chamber in front of me zooming closer, and jumped off the rope.

I landed on the solid rock, and embraced it for a moment, welcoming the feeling of land. Kellyn grinned. "That wasn't so bad, was it? Now, let's go down the chute."

Luckily, we didn't jump down the chute. He captured a Pelipper flying above, and it slowly lowered us down the chute.

As we landed on the bottom, I looked around me. There were giant pillars of lava shooting out of the ground around us, and ahead I could see a small path of rock amongst the sea of fire. Next to me, a snail drifted lazily around the magma. _Magcargo, the Lava Snail. Its body is created completely of a flame that can burn through solid rock. When it evolves from a Slugma, it makes a shell from the molten crystals in volcanoes. _

"Go, Blossom!" She shot out of her Pokéball, and jumped onto the ground. "Use Iron Tail!"

Blossom started charging up her newly learned move. Her tail began solidifying, until it became a staff of pure iron. Then, she smashed it upon Magcargo's shell.

"Cargo!" It looked back at us and shot a blast of fire at Blossom, who barely dodged it.

Blossom hit Magcargo again, and this time it was visibly hurt. "Go, Pokéball!"

I hurled a Pokéball at the Magcargo, who was snapped into the small ball and caught. "Yes!"

I looked to my side and saw Kellyn looking weirdly at me. "What?"

He smiled. "Nothing. I was just looking at how weird it was to use Pokeballs. We can just whirl our stylus and capture it."

I grumbled under my breath. "That's just because you are a top Ranger."

"What was that?"

As we reached the end of the rocky path, I let out a huge sigh of relief. The path was really slippery, and one false step would lead to death. Ahead of us was a large rock wall.

Kellyn motioned for me to step back. "I'm going to have to break through this. You might want to get out of the way."

He waved his stylus in the air, drawing out a weird symbol in the air. And then a huge roar came out. A fricken giant dog bounded across the lava, and arrived right next to Kellyn.

I pointed my Pokedex at it. _Entei, the Volcano Pokémon. It is part of the trio including Suicune and Raikou. They have been around since the creation of the Johto region. _I stared at Kellyn.

"How the hell did you get Entei?" He smiled.

"I got a bunch of special markings from another region. They let me contact some special Pokémon. Now, step aside."

I walked as far as I could. Kellyn looked to see I was far enough, then shouted, "Entei, Sacred Fire!" Entei gathered a huge crest of fire shaped like a crown around his head and charged. He smashed into the rock, and slowly, he created a small hole in the side.

Kellyn nodded to Entei. "Thank you, friend." He waved his stylus again, and Entei bounded out.

We walked through the small hole. _Careful. _ Manaphy suddenly sounded in my head. _There's a bunch of people right in front of you._

A bunch of people in a place that had never been gone to? Curious, I stuck my head out from behind the wall.

In front of me, a bunch of people wearing red suits, Team Magma suits, were dashing around monitoring machines. And behind them was the largest thing I had ever seen.

It was a burning-white Pokémon, easily the size of a skyscraper. It had a pattern of red scales on its back, and it's eyes glowed pure blue. It seemed to be held back by ropes made of energy, powered by four machines in every corner of the room. It let out huge roars, but they were mostly drowned out by the sound of the volcano.

Kellyn stared at it. "That's Groudon.. One of the original Pokémon." His eyes were in awe. "What is Team Magma doing with it?" I stared at it, and my head started buzzing. _Stop warming. Save the land. "They are in a battle with Team Aqua." _I turned to Kellyn, looking into his large, green eyes. "Kellyn… I think they want to take away water from the world."

Kellyn almost gasped, the first time I had seen him break his knowing demeanor. "I'll have to send this to Ranger HQ."

Then a large hand clapped on each of our backs. "What're ya sendin ta Range Headquatehs?"

We were led to the front of the cavern by the Magma grunt. In front of us, a man sat in a chair. And he turned around.

It was Elm. "Hello, Gold." He stared at me with unmoving eyes, and I finally realized that I had missed that power-hungry gleam in his eyes, that madness hidden behind genius.

"Elm, you don't know what you're doing. Stealing the oceans and water wouldn't help anyone. It would practically be genocide."

He laughed at me. "Gold, my boy, You have no clue what I'm doing. I'm not monopolizing the oceans. I'm destroying them."

_Gold! _Manaphy sounded in my head. _What's happening? _

I quickly relayed the event to Manaphy in my head as Elm did the typical explanation of why he was going to destroy everything.

_Wait. We can come get you. There is something really really important about you, and we cannot afford to lose you. _

And Elm finished his speech. "So, Gold, that's it."

I snarled at him. "Are you going to kill us now?"

He smiled, but it wasn't the smile of the kind, old professor I had known for all those years. It was the smile of a prisoner driven insane. I realized that he didn't want this. It wasn't him, and he desperately wanted to be freed.

"My boy, I'm not going to kill you. You're far too valuable. You don't even know what you are, do you?"

Was he talking about my powers?

"You, and your late father, are the only humans in history to retain ancestral powers. When humans and Pokémon were created by Arceus, there was a small genetical glitch in two lines of humans. They had the powers of the first Pokémon, able to control and even enhance those powers. The genetical error didn't work by itself, as it only gave the two lines of humans increased senses."

"The 10th century scientist Oak didn't think so, however. He was regarded as mad by many, but I studied his text. It talked about how if the families combined, there would become these humans with these genetical powers." He looked at me. "And I found you."

"Your father found out what I was doing, and he tried to stop it, so I had him killed. Don't you wonder how lucky it was for me to take you in as an intern, when I barely knew you and your mother? How I granted you millions of dollars in order to start your journey?"

"I'm going to use you, whether you like it or not. We can make this simple, with you just agreeing to help us utilize Groudon. Or, we can force you."

I laughed, a bitter laugh. "I don't care what you do to me. You can't make me."

"What about Kellyn?"

He took out a small knife and pointed it at Kellyn's arm. "I'll slowly torture him, then heal him, then do it again."

I looked into Kellyn's deep eyes, and I felt like I had to help him.

"NO. Don't do it, Gold." Kellyn shouted bravely, and I withheld.

Elm smiled. "Then, I guess we'll get started."

He pointed the knife down, and blood spurted out of Kellyn's arm. He shrieked and howled, but Elm just kept on going. He slowly cut apart his arm to shreds, eliciting inhumane cries from Kellyn.

"Stop! I'll do it."

Elm stopped his cutting and left the whimpering Kellyn.

"Command Groudon. Give his authority over to me."

_NO, Don't do it Gold! _Manaphy's voice sounded in my head. I looked at Kellyn, and realized I couldn't do this to my best friend.

I went into Groudon's mind and tried to channel my powers. I felt his confusion at being woken up, his anger towards humanity, and I changed it to devotion.

Soon, the lava plumes subsided and Groudon stopped struggling.

Elm smiled maniacally. "Finally, he's free."

I growled at him. "Let Kellyn go."

He smiled. "Gladly." He released Kellyn towards me, sending him staggering painfully at me. I started crying with reassurance, because he was safe. And then Elm threw a knife into his head.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Make sure you actually don't skim the long paragraphs! This chapter is actually the most important chapter so far. Needed to understand the rest!**

Kellyn fell slowly to the ground. In my mind, I still saw his last laugh echo. "No… NO!"

Elm laughed sadistically, enjoying my suffering. "I mean, I'm not hurting him anymore right?"

I screamed and shouted, but I couldn't struggle past the heavy ropes bound around me.

"No, no no. You promised!"

Elm just kept on laughing, as his scientists gathered around Groudon to prepare to release it. "X will be so happy his Groudon has finally been released."

I stared at him, my mind a burning ball of hate. _Kill him now. Strike him down. _I felt myself rise through the ropes, expanding in a release of pure energy.

This time Elm wasn't laughing. "What? He assured me your powers weren't that strong yet. No, it's impossible."

I stared at the man I once called friend with cold, dark eyes, a ferocity I didn't know I possessed. "Promises are meant to be kept. Remember when you promised you would always take care of me?"

Elm backed up and tried to flee, but I just pulsed one energy wave at him and swung him back. Around me, scientists were fleeing due to the energy waves me and Groudon were releasing.

"Be a man. Or, have you lost that sense a while ago? ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?" I felt the inner rage boil inside of me as I struggled to contain my emotions. It wasn't even mine anymore. I was the ocean, the force driving the consistent tides. The power inside me was overwhelming, and it was about to break out.

And I let go.

Instantly, Elm vaporized into a small pile of cowardly dust. I made sure to channel a shield around Kellyn's body so that it would stay safe. The wave of energy shot into the sides of the cavern, causing it to start to rumble. Stalagmites fell from the ceiling, piercing through the ground. I looked at Groudon, and looked into it's blazing eyes of fire. It stared back at me, and snarled. Then, everything went blank.

"Gold?" "Gold?" A tiny squeaky voice sounded next to me. I opened one eye. Why was the world so… blue?

I blinked and looked closer. Above me the sky seemed really strange and wavy, like someone had painted it. Wait!

I suddenly sat up, taking in my surroundings. All of the previous events flooded back into my head. Kellyn and me had went into the volcano, and…

"Oh god. Kellyn…" I looked next to me, at a small blue pixie floating around. Manaphy. "Can you save him?"

She looked at me, and her tiny face contorted. "I'm sorry Gold. I tried everything I could, but…"

I couldn't believe it. I remembered when we were little, Kellyn and I would play together all the time while Vanessa whined and followed us around. He was like the brother I didn't remember, the one killed by a Tauros stampede when I was two. He was practically my best friend in the town, and I felt a tear drip down my face, underwater. Don't ask.

Suddenly, I felt a small beat pulsing within me. A feeling of comfort and love spread through my body. I looked next to me, and Manaphy smiled back. _This is Heart Swap, my special ability. It allows us to share emotions and for me to drain some of your sadness._

I smiled back gratefully. "Thanks." I looked around me for the first time, and awed. Nearby, my backpack, which somehow survived the collapse, sat on a bed of sand. We seemed to be inside a giant bubble, and outside of the bubble was… the ocean.

Around me Remoraid floated around me, the little blue fish I recognized from fishing when I was young. They had these nasty teeth that bit on your fingers when you tried to draw them in. Around them, cute little Corsola flew through the ocean, playing tag with each other.

Behind them was the ruins of a ship, eroded after many years. Along the side of the broken hull, giant Sharpedo's swam, their murky shadows looming out.

Manaphy smiled. "Gold, isn't it amazing?"

I looked at it, and I felt a strange sense of familiarity. "Manaphy, why is this happening? My best friend is dead, I'm underwater talking to a legendary under a bubble, and a primal legendary is released?"

Manaphy nodded. "I'll tell you everything tonight. For now, rest." She pointed at me, and I saw a strange beam emit from her and shoot me in the head.

I woke up in a strange room, with a bed made of sea sponges and a large Clamperl shell behind me. I slipped on my ragged clothing from the previous day, only to hear an "Ahem" from the corner.

I looked behind me and saw a small pink fish thingy looking at me. _Gorebyss, the Fancy Fish. It is so beautiful and fancy that it takes hours of beauty training to evolve a Clamperl into one. It is obsessed with beauty and has gone so far as to adapt it's appearance using psychic powers._

Gorebyss smiled. "Hello."

I jumped back a few feet. "First of all, why… why am I breathing underwater? Also, why are you talking?"

She laughed. "You have no idea who you are, do you?" She beckoned me towards an old stone wardrobe in the side of the room. I opened it, and a suit came out.

"Uh, am I supposed to wear this?" She nodded.

"A prince needs his apparel. Be downstairs in half an hour."

I quickly put on the suit and started downstairs. I still didn't really get used to the feeling of walking and moving around underwater, as it was a rather new experience for me. As I exited my room, I reached a huge ballroom that had a massive chandelier as well as a curving staircase sweeping downstairs.

I followed the staircase down. Why is there even a staircase, if it's underwater? I reached the bottom and walked over to the table, where…

Oh my god, the table was massive. At one end of the table, Manaphy and a bunch of other Pokémon I didn't recognize sat. Along the table, lots of small Pokémon sat. On the table were many delicious delicacies, which looked amazing. And at the head of the table, next to Manaphy, was an empty seat.

Manaphy smiled at me. "Hi Gold!" I sat down, feeling quite awkward as around 20,000 heads turned to look at me.

After the amazing meal, Manaphy floated up, and everyone stopped chatting. "Today, we have with us the most important person you will ever see. Please, denizens, welcome and serve the Sea Prince!"

Admist the cheering, I gaped with shock. I was the sea Prince? What even was that? I had no clue, so I decided to just wait.

Manaphy finally took me aside to a different room. "Gold, I know this must be confusing, so let me explain this. But first, we have to start from the beginning."

"At the beginning of time, after the Sinnoh Trio created the Universe, two massively powerful entities sprang up. One was Groudon, and the other was Kyogre, a massive whale who could create rain. They fought endlessly, enfulging the world in rain and land. In the end, a third power named Raquaza stopped the war, but not before fatal damage was done." Manaphy paused. "The humans were saved, but Kyogre was fatally injured. Raquaza realized that there needed to be both in order for the world to exist, but he was powerless to save Kyogre. That's where he came in."

Manaphy pointed to the wall, and I saw a painting of.. me? "His name was Silver. He was the first of the connections between the two powerful families. However, that wasn't the most powerful part. You see, he had found a special stone, a Mega Stone. Using it, he could enhance Pokémon's powers by tenfold and change them. The Mega Stone he found though, was absorbed into him, granting him almost supernatural powers. As Groudon's sunshine threatened to destroy the Earth, he healed Kyogre, saving the world."

"You are the second occurrence of this combination of families, and what's more, you are the Sea Prince. The crown recognized you and brought me to you. And now, we need you. The world is preparing for another crisis. Ancient legendaries which haven't been awoken before are waking. And the whole cause of it is you."

I stared. "Me?"

She nodded. "You see, you're not the only one who has these powers. There is another girl, working for the other side, who has these powers also. In fact, I believe you know her."

I thought about the girls I knew, and I realized the answer before she said it. "The girl is Vanessa, your half-sister."

_**A/N number 2: **_**OMG I HAVE REVIEWERS **

**Thank you so much to both of you who reviewed. It is amazing to know that someone is reading this, especially in such a huge fandom like Pokémon. Thanks and if you have any feedback (positive or negative, especially negative so I can work on changing it), please feel free to review **** Thanks!**


	8. 8: IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

Okay, sorry about this, but I have to make this statement. I cannot sit here and publish a fanfiction while people in Gaza are dying. It's just morally incorrect. I am not being racist towards Jews, but it is very clear to me which side is in the wrong. The Palestinians are being fired upon for what? Fairly electing the Hamas into government? They hadn't committed any terrorist acts or brutalities when they were elected into government. All they wanted was peace in a country of their own.

And now what? Israel is bombarding Palestine with one of the worlds strongest arrays of weapons, backed by the United States. If anyone claims that Israel is defending themselves, that is actually the reverse. If Israel doesn't destroy and conquer its neighbors, it might actually be safe from its neighbors. Just because they are Muslim doesn't mean they are violent. The missiles shot from the region are just a pitiful attempt at self-defense. There is literally nothing else Palestine can do. They've appealed to the U.N., which has stopped their plea. They have peaceful protests, where it has been PROVEN that Israeli militants start shooting and violence. They have even tried to escape through UN humanitarian aids, but even Israel shuts that down.

This is not okay, and it needs to stop. Before the negotiations, at least, Israel needs to stop oppressing and basically murdering them. It is backed with the strongest hegemon in the world and has Palestine surrounded and unable to have a chance at survival. The conditions Israel puts on it basically makes Palestine their own, destroying the whole culture and peoples. If you are against this message and hate me and my story, go ahead, but I feel that I really couldn't care less if I lost a few followers compared to the massive bloodshed going on in Gaza. But if this small cry for humanity, for people to take action, gets to you, please act on it.

You don't have to go out and protest. But if you are a fellow writer on this site, I plead you send out a similar message as well. Advocate for peace in online blogs and forums. Spread it on social media. The Internet is a powerful tool, and we must use it to stop this atrocity. We are the privileged, if not by money, then by the ability to live in relative peace. Ignoring this message is basically the same as just walking past dying children on the streets, when you, every one of you, can actually make a difference.

It's not fighting against Israel and Jews, it's fighting for humans.

Thank you, and more chapters will still come out. But, please at least think about this message.


	9. Chapter 9

I returned to my room in a daze. Vanessa was the enemy? How? She helped me defeat Magma and was one of my best friends. And yet… Manaphy wouldn't be wrong about something like this. But still… does that mean she killed Kellyn? I decided I had to get to the bottom of this.

I went to the corner of the room and picked up Kellyn's backpack. Opening up the zipper, I felt a momentary amount of guilt for going through his possessions. _He would want me to find out what was happening. _He would.

Inside the bag, I found barely anything: some Ranger supplies sitting in a little neat stack, a map and a notebook. I took the book out, its dusty cover torn in many places. On it was a small metal lock. Again, I felt a small seed of guilt as I brought out a small metal pick and began to work on it. I had learned how to pick locks from Kellyn, and it was quite ironic that I was breaking into his notebook like this.

After a half hour of wiggling, I finally got it open. I opened it, and started reading.

_August 8__th__, 2015. Today I started my journey! It's really exciting. Gold hugged my leg and wouldn't let me go, but he'll be able to go in a few years. I chose Piplup as my starter. He's so cute _

_-Pokémon Master Kellyn_

_August 16__th__, 2015. First gym badge! Pippy swept his team with a breeze. Haha, on my way to becoming champ! _

_-Pokémon Master Kellyn_

A few pages were shown to be torn out, with large rip marks in the border. The next page was splotched in many places.

_June 1__st__, 2017. Pippy died today. I can't keep on going. I'm quitting my Gym Challenge tomorrow. I'll probably go to Almia. I told Jake about this, and he laughed at my sentiment. I'm breaking up with him, that cruel B-. _

_-Kellyn._

What… Kellyn was gay? That was sort of surprising, and he had never told me why he became a Ranger. It always seemed weird, considering that when we were kids, he always bragged about how strong his Pokémon were. Anyways, I kept on reading.

_July 28__th__, 2017. Saved Almia from Darkrai today. Yay __ I think I'm getting used to my new partner, but still, he's not Pippy. Team Dim Sun isn't controlled just by the Enterprise. The plan about Darkrai was for some cult, rising this guy named X. Whatever. Signing off,_

_-Top Ranger Kellyn._

That X guy again. X was definitely some guy with major problems or something. I skipped forward through the notebook, reading more little entries, until one entry caught my eye.

_October 30__th__, 2020. Today I visited home for the first time in years. I saw my family, who welcomed me, and then Vanessa. She has changed so much, and I don't think it's for the better. She wears elegant clothing and goes to strange midnight meetings, in which sometimes she returns with small bruises and cuts. I met Gold also, who has grown really big. I think there's something up with Vanessa. _

_-Top Ranger Kellyn._

He knew. He started suspecting Vanessa back when we met. And yet he never told me…

I flipped to the next entry.

_November 3__rd__, 2020. Vanessa is a murderer and an extremely strong psychic. I stalked her tonight and saw her torture and kill a man. I can't stop her, and I can't tell anyone, or she'll easily find out. For some reason, she can't read my mind, but she can see what others are thinking. I think the only hope is Gold. _

_-Kellyn._

Oh god. This confirmed what Manaphy had told me. Vanessa had actually defected. I could see her smiling, angelic face turn slowly into a demon. But was I better? I thought of all the Magma grunts I had killed in the cave-in. _They were just innocent, doing their job. _I frowned and flipped to the final page.

_It's the end. Gold, I hope you read this after I'm gone. I never really told you this, but I loved you. Not just as a little brother, but as something more… and I hope you'll read this and remember me. Elm will kill one of us, I'm sure. He needs one to awaken Groudon, and I'm glad that it's me. Please, though, just do me one last favor. When you meet Vanessa, please don't kill her. She doesn't know what she's doing._

_Love, Kellyn._

I stared as tears threatened to spill down my cheeks. Kellyn loved me. He loved me and had done so much, even saving me from death. Could I do it? I looked at his journal, remembered his mangled body, and swore that I would end this.

"Manaphy, I'm leaving." I told the small blue pixie as I went down the stairs.

She looked at me with shockingly large eyes. "But… you just came." Her voice quivered.

"I have to do this. I can't let the world get destroyed." I looked at Manaphy, who still looked extremely frail, and I felt really bad suddenly. She had searched for me so long, and found me, and now I was leaving. I looked around the ocean again, and I suddenly realized why.

"Manaphy… I really don't want to leave, but look around you. The ocean is the beginning of life, and home to so much. We can't let it end and die. It's so pristine and beautiful…" I looked beyond her, towards the ocean. The bright spots of water, holding schools of colorful fish floating around. The dark abyss, with who knew what. And I found myself believing my words.

Manaphy put a small hand on my knee. "I understand. But, before you go, you'll need help."

I curiously looked down. "What sort of help?"

"There is an ancient beast, living in the bottom of the ocean, inside a deep abyss. It's ferocious and one of the most terrifying beasts from the beginning. You need to get to it and get the Sea Crown, allowing you to control the element of water." She looked at me, warily.

"You need this power. There is absolutely no way you're going to succeed in your quest without it."

Manaphy took my Pokeballs from my belt. As I protested, she hushed me. "Your land Pokémon are going to suffocate down here. I'll give them to my friend to keep for the time being."

"So what am I going to work with?" I frowned. I hadn't been without Pokémon for so long that I forgot what it was like.

Manaphy beckoned forward, and a pair of Qwilfish swam forward, bringing a long gleaming lance decorated with an ornamental seashell handle. "This is the sword of the Deep. It has the power to summon the guardians of the sea to assist you on your journey." She pointed to the small seashells attached to the handle.

The first one, a small clamshell decorated with fringes and shining gleams. "This is able to summon help from the ancient wise Slowking. It will enhance your abilities with psychic assistance and offer you wisdom."

"This second one," she pointed to a large conch horn, "draws on the powers of the powerful Gyarados King and his Magikarp army."

Finally, the small pearl on the bottom of the sword moved. It moved? It opened it's eyes, and I looked at it.

"That is a baby Clamperl. To summon the final one, it requires the sacrifice of an innocent. You will kill the Clamperl to awaken the powerful Milotic. It has acquired true beauty, stained with the blood of innocence." I looked at the baby Clamperl. I didn't know if I could kill it.

Manaphy looked at me. "You have to. Each of these guardians can only be summoned once. All three will be vital to survive on this journey."

I nodded. "I guess I'll be off now." I looked at her, and I immediately thought of my family. Wait..

"Manaphy, you said you can create an empathetic link to any living human right?" She nodded.

"Can you… can you look for someone named Silver Hamazion?" I flinched at myself hearing that name again.

She stayed so still for a minute I thought she hadn't processed my request, but then she opened her eyes.

"I've found him. I can show you what he's doing right now, if you would like."

I nodded. "Yes, this is very important."

She touched her small hand to mine, and suddenly my world went black.

I opened my eyes again, and it was like being underwater. I looked in front of me at a crowd of waving people. I felt my mouth open. "Do we?"

The people all cheered. "Yes!" I looked around the scene, and I felt a strange taste in my mouth. This was what it came to, didn't it?

It was here. My brother was leading the new organization that had popped up, the one who had most likely killed Kellyn. I- no he, was the reincarnation of X.

I exited the thought stream of my brother. I now took on my pursuit with a new, dedicated touch. "Manaphy, I'm leaving now. Goodbye."

As I swam off into the distance, I looked back into the fading bright castle, with its lights, and a lone blue figure in front of it, waving with tears.

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I had: a) both a case of writers block, and b) was really busy. Sorry! As always, please review


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